Former executioner: Protocol imperative

The man contacted me because recent news reports, including one by me, seemed to impugn his former profession, made it seem sloppy, undisciplined, disorganized. He wanted to set things straight.

He said that the job he performed for many years required training and preparation. It demanded attention to detail and decorum. It was solemn. It was precise. It was professional.

"We followed a very strict protocol because this was a part of the justice system and it had to be done correctly," he said.

He was an executioner.

Lawyers for the three men with execution dates in Arizona have filed a lawsuit saying that new execution protocols put into place by the Department of Corrections violate the inmates' civil rights. Essentially, the rules give DOC Director Charles Ryan the option of using a three-drug or one-drug protocol to execute prisoners and allow Ryan to decide if those carrying out the execution are experienced enough or qualified enough to do the job.

"It's really kind of a disturbing development, and one that I would hope average people won't approve of the way it has been handled," said Dale Baich, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys.

Attorneys for Arizona's death-row inmates have been battling with the DOC over execution protocols for several years. In news reports by The ArizonaRepublic's Michael Kiefer, we learned that some of the drugs used in Arizona executions were obtained in what could most generously be described as the "gray" market overseas and were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

As far as the former executioner is concerned, these controversies should not reflect poorly on members of the DOC execution team.

"I was psychologically tested a number of times," he said. "It's a solemn professional process. We were very protective of who was part of the team. We didn't take anybody who wanted to join because we worried about the motives. We looked at other people in the department carefully and recruited."

There is a state law protecting the identities of execution-team members. And it's not the only job most of them have in the department.

"One time, a TV station from Phoenix had a camera up in the air and pointed it down in the yard after an execution," he said. "They showed me walking with the black bag on the gurney, taking the body to the coroner's wagon. Because of that, I had to explain to my young daughter a little bit about what I did. I wasn't going to lie to her, but I wanted her to know that this wasn't the kind of thing she should be going around school talking about."

He said that before an execution, such as the one scheduled for later this month, he made sure the "death house" was pristine.

"I wanted it immaculate," he said. "We'd check the light fixtures to make sure there was no dust. Nothing. This was in addition to everything else. Painting. Checking supplies. Making sure that all of the restraints were in good shape. Everything."

Of the condemned men he dealt with, he said, "They were all different. Some were funny. Some of them were somber. Some of them sad. Some of them made jokes at the end. I can't tell you that I was affected by any of them. I'm not like some guys, where they remember every single person from every execution. I don't carry that around with me."

He recalled only one inmate who put up a fight on the way to his death, but it had to do with a perceived insult, not with facing execution. He recalled another who told him: "Have fun."

He understands the legal process that leads to lawsuits and execution delays and so on, and he says that he has no problem with any of it. He believes in the process, all the way to the end. He said it didn't bother him "to push the plunger" that administered the fatal drugs.

"If you're affected by that, then you shouldn't be involved, period," he said.